HoloMyth Initiative

Chapter 1 - Assemble the Myth

Finding Mori Calliope was not the problem, but getting to here was. Enma squeezed herself through a massive crowd of shouting fans. The dark concert hall was only light up through dimly shining spotlights on a small stage. The manager of the soon-to-be hero group was amongst the cheering audience of an underground rap battle. But she was not in any underground, oh no. Enma was in THE underground. The land of the dead itself.

The crowd consisted of all kinds of undead souls. Blue flames, horned ogres, pale men and women in white dresses and much, much more. All of them screamed one name repeatedly in sheer ecstasy.

"Calli! Calli! Calli! Calli...."

Those were the undying fans of Death's first apprentice and simultaneously rap queen of the underworld. Those were the Deadbeats.

Calliope herself stood onstage, in front of her daring rival. It was her turn to sing. Soon, the tall woman with long pink hair tied to a ponytail began to spit fiery lines, more lit than the Hitodama that challenged her. The gazing of her red eyes was merciless. Her words, marvelous. Her enemy, full of nervousness. After Calli's turn, the blue flame vanished.

She won.

Again.

The crowd yelled her name louder than before. Even as the rap queen left the stage, they kept praising her. But Enma had a job to do, so she followed Calliope backstage. There, the rapping reaper chilled in a small green room.

Before Enma even had the chance to say a word, Calli raised her voice. "It's rare that a living human visits my concerts."

The manager was disciplined as always. "The gatekeeper of the underworld owed me a favor."

Calliope sat down on a folding chair. She was dressed in a red and black jacket, combined with a black baseball cap and also black sweatpants with red stripes onto her left trouser leg. She rested her feet onto a small table and cracked open a cold one.

"I assume," the reaper said after a sip, "that you have your reasons to come her?"

The manager bowed. "My name is Enma and I am here on the behalf of my company, Hololive."

"Guh." Calli was surprised to hear that name. "The superhero agency? What do they want from me?"

"We want you to join us as a new recruit."

The reaper looked at the stone cold manager with owllike eyes. "What the.... Me? A superhero? Why?"

For the first time since the conversation started, Enma smiled. "We have some troubles with a cunning demon who threatens our world. I was sent to assemble a team of mythicals, all with unique powers and talents, who would sent him back to the realm he came from."

"Sounds dangerous."

"I can understand your hesitation, but the world...."

"I said it sounds dangerous." The grimm reaper grinned with a wild gaze. "Not that it doesn't sound fun."

"So, you will help us?"

Out of a shadowy corner, a human-sized scythe flew past Enma by a hair's breadth. Calliope snatched it in flight and engulfed herself in shadows. After the darkness vanished, the reaper was dressed in a long black dress with golden ornaments and a black veil, while her hair was no longer tied together.

"Count me in," the rap queen said with her eyes now glowing in a menacing red.

It was a sunny afternoon that Takanashi Kiara spend in the fresh air. The businesswoman loved to spent her breaks with short flights, accompanied by her beloved pet bird Kotori. Her fiery wings carried her between skyscrapers. The hot summer air blew through Kiara's orange, hair-like feathers with greenish strands, while the searing sun was reflected in her purple eyes. Those flights were truly a kind of freedom only birds could understand.